November 2008:
CODEPINK citizen diplomacy in IranThe Iranian people welcomed three
CODEPINKers generously, and shared their
own non-violent actions for peace. You
can read Medea and Jodie's accounts
from Iran at our blog, PinkTANK.

In the aftermath of the contested June
12, 2009 elections in Iran, CODEPINK supports the activities of United for Iran.

Leading Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin
Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in jail and banned from practicing law and
traveling for 20 years by an Iranian judge in January, 2011. Sotoudeh--whose
clients have included Nobel Peace
Laureate Shirin Ebadi--was charged for "acting against national
security," not wearing Islamic dress during a videotaped message and also
for "propaganda" against the regime. Read more and send an e-letter to express your outrage here.

CODEPINK has led several peace delegations to Iran to build bridges between the two
nations. In the most recent trip CODEPINK cofounders met
with women members of Parliament, Presidential media advisors, and women's
peace, business and student groups.

We
believe in being the change we want to see. As citizen diplomats, our trips and
work around Iran underscores that the Iranian people, like the American people,
want peace and not war. As we have seen from the American invasion and
occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, the use of our military to resolve security
issues kills and injures innocent civilians, destroys cities and villages,
creates more people who dislike/hate our country and who may be willing to use
violence against us, and jeopardizes, not enhances, the security of the United
States. America's best policy would be to treat Iran with respect and not with
threats of military action.